When First
WHEN first I came here I had hope,Hope for I knew not what. Fast beatMy heart at sight of the tall slopeOr grass and yews, as if my feet
Only by scaling its steps of chalkWould see something no other hillEver disclosed. And now I walkDown it the last time. Never will
My heart beat so again at sightOf any hill although as fairAnd loftier. For infiniteThe change, late unperceived, this year,
The twelfth, suddenly, shows me plain.Hope now,--not health, nor cheerfulness,Since they can come and go again,As often one brief hour witnesses,--
Just hope has gone for ever. PerhapsI may love other hills yet moreThan this: the future and the mapsHide something I was waiting for.
One thing I know, that love with chanceAnd use and time and necessityWill grow, and louder the heart's danceAt parting than at meeting be.
Words in this poem
- scaling a.
- Adapted for removing scales, as from a fish; as, a scaling knife; adapted for removing scale, as from the interior of a steam boiler; as, a scaling hammer, bar, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When First is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22423; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edward Thomas, When First, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/when-first.html, id L08151.
Form and metre
When First is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 67% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB hopeA · beatB · slopeA · feetB
- 2 ABAB chalkA · hillB · walkA · willB
- 3 ABAB sightA · fairB · infiniteA · yearB
- 4 A-A- plainA · cheerfulness · againA · witnesses
- 5 ABAB perhapsA · moreB · mapsA · forB
- 6 A-A- chanceA · necessity · danceA · be
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN first I came here I had hope, | 8 | ········ |
| Hope for I knew not what. Fast beat | 8 | ········ |
| My heart at sight of the tall slope | 8 | ········ |
| Or grass and yews, as if my feet | 8 | ········ |
| Only by scaling its steps of chalk | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Would see something no other hill | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Ever disclosed. And now I walk | 9 | /˘˘/˘···· |
| Down it the last time. Never will | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My heart beat so again at sight | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Of any hill although as fair | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And loftier. For infinite | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| The change, late unperceived, this year, | 9 | ······˘·· |
| The twelfth, suddenly, shows me plain. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Hope now,--not health, nor cheerfulness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Since they can come and go again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As often one brief hour witnesses,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Just hope has gone for ever. Perhaps | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| I may love other hills yet more | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Than this: the future and the maps | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hide something I was waiting for. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| One thing I know, that love with chance | 8 | ········ |
| And use and time and necessity | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| Will grow, and louder the heart's dance | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At parting than at meeting be. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.